Date: 1:26 am  Fri Aug 23, 1996        Number : 88 of 172
From: Ariadne                          Base   : [PODS] Women Only
To  : Ellie                            Refer #: None
Subj: Re: Female Stuff  :)             Replies: None
Stat: Sent                             Origin : 19 Aug 96  23:45:00

Sayeth Ellie to All
 El> This seems like the best place to put this.  I have been in a deep
 El> depression  for nearly two years now, since just before the birth of my
 El> son.  Has anyone  else experienced this, and do you have any
 El> suggestions?  (I should mention I  have been seeing a counselor for
 El> over a year, and that I don't believe a  chemical imbalance is to
 El> blame.) 


I wish I had a good suggestion, Ellie...depression is a hard road. If you're
seeing a counselor that's a positive step, but do evaluate your treatment
carefully and be sure that this is someone who truly can help. It's often
difficult to find the right person to assist you through depression. I'm
still looking, my most recent experiences with psychiatrists having made me
awfully cynical about the state of the profession. But there are good people
out there.

Even if you don't have a chemical imbalance problem, it can help to stay as
physically healthy as possible. It's hard when you just don't give a damn to
make the extra effort to eat well, sleep reasonable hours, exercise, and
take care of yourself. But the body and mind play off of each other, and 
when one is hurtin' it drags the other down with it. 

Do keep in mind that depression is an illness...not a character weakness,
not a failing, and not something that a little willpower can pull you out
of.  And you are not alone by any means in suffering from it. There are 
millions of us. There are many possible treatments and not all of them
work for everybody...sometimes the hardest thing is to keep from getting
hopelessly discouraged if what you try first, or second, or third, doesn't
help. And it's hard to deal with family and friends who don't suffer from
depression and don't understand how debilitating it can be...hell, during
periods when I'm not depressed *I* have trouble understanding it. But it
can get better. 

Keep going, keep working on it. Your path to health is out there. 

Blessed Be,
Ariadne


... Women and cats do as they like.  Men and dogs get used to it.
--- GEcho 1.00
 * Origin: The Sylver Moone BBS, Denver, CO 303/964-8559 (1:104/270)